Vault ventilator



Jan. 14, 1930.

o. a. McCLlNTOCK VAULT VENTILATOR Filed Dec. 16. 1927 jhremor 0/11 67 ll 671/7 foe/r Patented Jan. 1 4, i930 omrs stares rinses VAULT vEN'rI ATon Application filed December 16, 1927'. semi Nb. 240,428.

My invention relates to bank vaults and like enclosures, and provides an extremely simple and highly eflicient vault ventilator therefor. As is well known, bank vaults are very solid and rigid structures, usually equipped with vault-protecting systems and rendered substantially immune to successful attack by drills, by metal-cutting torches and by flames. Otherwise, such vaults are made burglar-proof and fireproof, and they are necessarily made substantially air-tight when the vault doors are closed. tilation or fresh air supply, such as will sustain life within the vault of persons either accidentally locked within the vault or forced and locked within the vault by robbers, certain devices, usually called vault ventilators, have hitherto been provided, and it is to the improvement of these Vault ventilators that my present invention is directed. In vault ventilators hitherto proposed, it has been the universal practice, so far as I am aware, to provide screw-threaded engagement between the relatively fixed and movable members of the ventilator. Such threaded engagement requires rotation and, in fact, a large number of rotations, to disconnect the removable member from the fixed member of the vault ventilator, and which action is necessary to so afford fresh air supply or ventilation to the interior of the vault. My invention simplifies this construction and the operation incident thereto and, at the same time, provides a ventilator-locking means that is highly eff ficient in preventing tampering with the ventilator from the exterior of the vault.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a view chiefly in vertical axial section, but with some parts broken away and some parts in full, illustrating the improved vault ventilator applied in the wall of the vault; and

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

The vault wall 3 illustrated is of the usual To aiford venconcrete. The inner face of the wall is intwo sections 4 havingflanged imbedded ends between whicn are interposed an insulating material 5, the said flanged ends being 1 clamped together by machine screws 6. The outer end of the outer se'ction 4 is shownas provided with an outstanding flange that resists inward force. Of course, the outturned flanges anchored in the concrete also firmly anchor the complete sleeve-like shell against movement in either direction. The inner end of the inner section 4 projects into the vault; 7

Normally, the opening through the an chored'shell is closed by a plug that may take various forms but Which,'as shown, is made up of two hollow cylindrical sections 7, be-

tween the abutting ends of which is interposed a heat-insulating material 8, the said two sections being rigidly connected by machine screws 9; The insulating materials 5 and 8',above described, are for reducing to a minimum the transmission of heat from the exterior to the interior of the vault in case of external fire, but they constitute no part of the present invention. As shown, the interior' of the outer plug section 7 is filled with concrete 10 or other fire and drill-resisting of the inner section of the plug 7 preferably projects slightly farther into the vault than does the inner end of the inner case section 4; and to the inner end of the inner section of said plug 7 is rigidly secured ahead 11 equipped with handles or hand pieces 12, preferably at diametrically opposite points. H Also, this head 11 is preferably formed with an annular flange 13 that loosely telescopes over the projecting inner end of the anchored shell. The head 11 is apermanent construction and may be assumed to be of part of the removable plugand may be secured to the body thereof in any suitable way, but, as shown, this is accomplished by machine screws 14.

For securely and directly locking the removable plug to the anchored shell, I provide a lock that is preferably in the form of a straightcoupling pin 15 inserted through coincident perforations formed in the upper and lower portions of the projecting ends of the shell and plug, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. This coupling pin 15 is provided with a shoulder 16 that limits its downward movement through the shell and plug.

Obviously, when the pin is in the position shown in Fig. 1, it will be impossible, by any force practically available, to press the plug inward by application of force to its outer end. The shearing strain of the pin 15 will be so great that the most eflicient kind of a lock is provided. If, at any time, a person should be locked in the vault, it is only necessary for them to lift the coupling pin 15 out of position and then, by taking hold of the handles 12, to pull the entire plug into the vault, thereby opening the ample ventilating air passage through the anchored shell. This opening of the ventilator is accomplished without requiring rotation or any slow movements of any of the parts. l/Vhenthe plug is released, it may be removed by a simple v straight-line movement, and this, of course,

OLIVER B. McoLI'NTooK.

ficiency, the lock feature of the ventilator is of minimum cost, has no parts that can get out of order, and the instructions for its operation from the interior of the vault will be quickly understood. For illustration, the in structions could be simply: A Lift lock pin out of position. B: Take hold of handles and pull plug into the vault.

WVhile, in the best form of this ventilator,

both the anchored shell and the removable plug will be made cylindrical or round in cross section, nevertheless, they both might take other forms, such as rectangular, hexagonal or octagonal forms, inasmuch as neither the plug nor any other part of the device requires rotation, either for application or removal.

WVhat I claim is: r

1. A vault ventilator comprising a tubular shell adapted to be anchored in a vault wall with one end projecting into the vault, a plug axially slidable through the entire length of said shell with its inner end projecting into the vault, and a removable coupling pin passed through the inwardly projecting end portions of said shell and plug and normally holding the parts together.

2. A vault ventilator comprising a tubular shell adapted to be anchored in a vault wall with one end projecting into the vault,'a plug axially slidable through the entire length of said shell with its inner end projecting into 

